"En la acumulación de laberintos, suéltalo todo una vez más."
The sound from the game Returned: 1999, coming from Ryan's phone. He was sprawled out on his bed, doing his monthly limbo to get freebie gems for that gacha game.
Today was Saturday, as usual in spring. The weather still wasn't very friendly, always changing and leaning towards rain.
But this cool air really made people able to relax a bit, enjoy life. Sometimes moments like this made life meaningful. Quiet moments where the mind could rest from all the activity.
Ryan swiped his phone screen, exiting the gacha game to open his SNS where there was one incoming message.
〈Sender: Arisa〉
Ryan read the message. A date? What was this girl saying, always beating around the bush and not being direct.
But come to think of it, wasn't it almost all of them? That girls did like things that were a bit roundabout. Something like simply saying "I don't want to," they'd say "Whatever."
So Ryan typed a reply to Arisa with a thumbs up. He didn't know where he'd be going, but thinking of Arisa, she wasn't that different from Mimi, his lil sis. that liking things with an anime vibe, and so on.
Yeah... even though I like some gacha games, I'm not that deeply interested in anime stuff.
Ryan thought as he got up from his bed. He walked out of his room.
The atmosphere at home was pretty quiet. His parents were on a work trip out of town, so the house only had him and his sister, Mimi.
Ryan glanced towards Mimi's closed door. However, he could hear sounds like joystick clicks and muttering from his sister along with another girl's voice?
Ryan opened his sister's door as usual. Siblings never knock on each other's doors, they just barge right in.
"OI!!! KNOCK FIRST, YOU STUPID BROTHER!"
Mimi looked at Ryan with an angry yet cute glare and shook her head, "Geez, you know you have absolutely no manners."
Mimi. Ryan's younger sister. She was a fairly tall girl with a bun hairstyle. Yeah, the Anemone family did have tall genes because Ryan was also quite tall.
"Your friend?" Ryan asked, looking at the girl sitting next to his sister. "...A new friend?"
"Uh-huh... Her name's Reva." She turned to the girl beside her with a smile. "Reva, this is my... brother, Ryan. He's a lady-killer."
That girl, Reva, nodded and smiled towards Ryan. "Nice to meet you... sorry if we're a bit noisy."
Ahh, this girl is much more like a 'little sister' than my own sister.
Ryan thought, looking at Reva who really seemed like what people might call a bookworm girl.
Thin, long braids that bounced like a black cat's tail, speaking with drooping lashes when her eyes closed as she talked.
Truly a genuinely sweet girl.
"Eww... what are you thinking about, standing there silently like that looking my friend. Don't tell me you want pick her up."
Mimi stared at Ryan with the look always reserved for siblings. Disgust. But of course, that was just an exaggerated feeling.
There aren't any siblings who truly hate each other in this world... probably.
Ryan then came in and sat down on Mimi's bed. Watching his sister and her friend play a game, something like a Dating-Sim Visual Novel.
A visual novel again.
Ryan still didn't quite understand why his sister liked these kinds of video games.
Well, he himself played gacha games that had visual novel styles, but he was the type who sometimes liked to 'skip' the story.
Ryan sighed, "Didn't you already finish that game?"
Mimi turned to look at her brother, "Yep, I finished this eroge 100%."
"So why are you playing it again?"
"Why? Why not? Isn't it the same as people who play online gacha games and always log in daily despite it's same trash?"
Ryan met his sister's gaze. She wasn't wrong, but somehow her words felt like they were aimed at him. well after all it's like comparing trash vs garbage. which is the same shyt.
"Hehehe, you two siblings are really close, huh~"
Reva giggled, watching the sibling antics. She was genuinely so sweet.
Mimi huffed and pouted at Reva. "We're not close, you know." She rolled her eyes, "Just forget it and pretend my brother isn't here."
"He~ you know calling your brother 'brother' actually shows you're pretty close."
"E-ehem! Enough, just ignore my broth—I mean that stupid boy, huff."
Mimi refocused on the screen and continued playing with Reva.
On screen, the usual visual novel display. Sprite images of characters, a text box for dialogue, and of course each scene had its own BGM, which was certainly nice.
And of course, the Dialogue Option feature found in Dating-Sim type games... the feature used for self-insertion by certain enthusiasts.
"Ugh, you know Reva, Chloe's route is really hard, I mean the timing overlaps with Daisy's route."
"Why do you always try for the harem route anyway?"
"You're seriously asking that?! OF COURSE, because I like all the heroine characters. Especially Risa route! You know 'Kai', is so sweet brother... well even he is loose on his head cause loving his lil sis too much."
Mimi glanced at her brother. Seeing that, Ryan raised an eyebrow, as if saying "what?"
"Why are you still here?"
"Watching you play? Is there something wrong with that?" Ryan asked, standing up from the bed. "Want me to leave?"
Mimi shook her head, patting the spot between her and Reva.
"Sit here." She said, handing him the console controller.
Ryan followed his sister's instruction. He sat between the two girls. Taking the console controller from Mimi's hand. Continuing the game.
On the TV screen. The scene in the game. Nighttime in the city, the main character, Ren, was running, slightly out of breath.
He headed towards an alley in, well... a red-light district, where 'fish' were lined up like at a market stall.
Among the 'fish', there was someone familiar. As he walked closer, two choice options appeared on the screen:
⇒ Call out
⇒ Ignore
Ryan of course took the "call out" option. The main character called out. The girl turned. A girl with long brown hair and bangs turned around.
⌈Ren?! What are you doing here?⌋
⌈I want to rent you...⌋
"Uwaa... the dialogue on this game is honestly trash."
Ryan commented on what he just read. What was a guy even saying with "I want to rent you." to a girl? It was seriously creepy.
Mimi and Reva giggled at Ryan's comment.
"Hey, don't say that. Even if the dialogue is weird, the context is right, isn't it?"
"Yep, I think big brother Ryan... has never played a dating-sim visual novel. You know... that dialogue is really cool... and a little romantic."
"Haa? You mean saying 'I want to rent you' to a girl can be called romantic?" Ryan made a dumbfounded face. "I don't really get it if many girls like guys like that."
"Ugh... come on, it's just a game. Besides, that dialogue fits for Daisy's route, she's an 'innocent' girl."
Ryan continued the game. He'd only played a little, but he felt like he already understood the point of this act's route.
Basically, this girl or heroine was Daisy... she was having financial trouble and because she was so desperate... she was trying to become a "night butterfly."
Yeah, that was Daisy's route, and of course there were plenty of other routes.
Ryan, Mimi, and Reva. The three of them played that dating-sim visual novel. Spending 5 hours on it, until it was almost dinner time.
Finally, the game was 100% complete. The Harem route had been achieved.
Ryan put down the controller and stared at the credit roll showing the game was finished. One thought crossed his mind as he watched the credits with narrowed eyes.
Trash game, give back my 5 hours.
What a complete waste of time.
The heroines were all brainless.
Heroine one, Lily Campbell. Came from a wealthy, respectable family. Beautiful and graceful with her blonde hair, she had a fiancé named Arthur, whom she was engaged to due to their parents' arrangement. Typical arranged marriage love. But she met the protagonist, Ren, who was her first real friend, and from that moment she fell in love with him.
Heroine two, Chloe Kalani. An easygoing girl, a social butterfly, she was the type who was friendly to everyone. Cute and adorable with her short, wavy milk-chocolate brown hair that really amplified her cuteness. She used to be a child star, but since she turned 13, her name faded and she wasn't selling in the entertainment world anymore... but she kept trying and kept smiling, enduring the harsh currents of showbiz. Thanks to the help of a guy named Ian who kept pushing her name, she slowly began rebuilding her career. She met Ren, someone she considered moral support because Ren happened to be there when she was playing music on the street. From then on, she got to know Ren and fell in love with him.
Heroine three, Daisy Marigold. An innocent girl with long brown hair. The typical girl-next-door type. She came from a somewhat less fortunate family. She had two younger siblings. Her father left them when she was 12. Daisy had a childhood friend named Caleb. Those two were like a real couple. But as usual, the childhood friend curse struck again. Ren came along and yep... everything was predictable. Daisy fell in love with Ren because he helped pay for her mother's medical treatment. Who would've thought this innocent girl would consider selling her 'cake' at the 'fish market'.
Heroine four, Risa Clove. The youngest heroine in this game. In a nutshell, she was a little sister longing for sibling affection. She had an older brother named Kai Clove, and yep, their relationship was a bit strained because Risa felt insecure, constantly being compared to her perfect brother. And that's when she saw Ren as an ideal older brother figure, and of course fell in love with him... leaving Kai, her real brother, with pretty complicated feelings.
"You know sis, I'm surprised you like this kind of game." Ryan exhaled like someone coming home from work. "You know this game is seriously pure trash."
"Haaa!? This game is good, maybe your taste is just low. Reva even likes this game."
Reva giggled and nodded, agreeing with her friend. But of course, Ryan believed Reva was just sugar-coating his sister's statement.
But that wasn't important; now it was time for dinner. Ryan stood up and walked towards the door.
"Does your friend want to have dinner here?"
Reva shook her head, which made Mimi pout, "Ehhh... do you really have to go now?" She tugged at Reva's clothes. "At least have dinner together first, don't worry, my brother's cooking isn't poisonous, right, bro?"
"Sorry, sorry~ I have to go home, I promised my dad I'd be back before dinner." Reva patted Mimi's head like she was petting a cat. "Besides, there's always tomorrow."
"Ok... then let my brother take you to the bus stop."
Mimi looked at Ryan, "Hey, take my best friend home and don't try anything weird with her. Quick."
Ryan just raised his middle finger before he left Mimi's room, followed by Reva.
"Hehehe~ You two are seriously close." Reva said as she put her shoes back on.
"Hmm... yeah, you could say that. You really don't want to have dinner first?"
Reva shook her head before standing up after putting on her shoes. Together with Ryan, Reva left the Anemone family residence.
"Nu-uh. I promised to be home early. Besides, it's almost evening. If I stayed longer, Mimi might say 'just stay over plss,' you know."
"Yeah... maybe you right for that."
The two of them walked under the sky that was starting to darken. The streets were a little puddly from the earlier drizzle.
Just walked in silence. Enjoying the gentle breeze after the rain, accompanied by the soft murmur of their footsteps on the wet pavement.